Devils 1 - 3 Senators
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Devils continue playoff charge at Senators

Mar 17, 2011 - 3:13 PM (Sports Network) - The hard-charging New Jersey Devils will try to stay hot this evening, when they visit the basement-dwelling Ottawa Senators for a battle at Scotiabank Place.

The Devils have turned in an amazing second half to the season, posting a 23-3-2 record over their last 28 contests to give themselves a chance at qualifying for the postseason.

With 70 points, New Jersey is tied with Atlanta for the East's 11th seed and the duo are six points in back of Buffalo for the conference's final playoff berth.

Ottawa, meanwhile, is last in the Eastern Conference with 59 points and has been relegated to a spoiler role.

However, the Senators have won two of their three meetings with the Devils this season and earned a 2-1 regulation victory in New Jersey when the clubs last met on March 8. The Devils have still taken 10 of 13 overall in the series and have won five out of eight in Canada's capital city.

New Jersey enters this evening's test on a three-game winning streak and the Devils were able to claim a 4-2 decision over the visiting Atlanta Thrashers on Tuesday. Jacob Josefson scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period to help the Devils record their seventh win in eight games.

Travis Zajac, Patrik Elias and Ilya Kovalchuk also tallied for the Devils. Martin Brodeur turned aside 18-of-20 shots to pick up the win.

"This is what was expected of us this year. We were supposed to compete at a high level," Zajac said.

Brodeur is expected to get the start tonight. The veteran backstop is 35-21-0 with four ties and a 2.18 goals-against average in his career against Ottawa.

The Devils have won three straight on the road and have a 15-18-1 record as the guest this season.

Ottawa has lost its last two games and was slammed by Pittsburgh on Tuesday in the opener of a three-game homestand. Jordan Staal and Tyler Kennedy both notched a goal and an assist to lead the Penguins to an easy 5-1 victory at Scotiabank Place.

Ryan Shannon scored the lone goal for the Senators on Tuesday and Craig Anderson let in all five goals on 41 shots. Anderson suffered an undisclosed injury in the loss and backup Curtis McElhinney could get the start tonight.

Ottawa, which will complete its residency Saturday against Tampa, has a poor 11-19-5 record as the host this season.






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